Advice for first FE4 playthrough

[arkel]

I just started FE4 for the first time and I'm on Chapter 2. However, some of the mechanics are so different that I think I could use some advice from people who have played the game before. The biggest question I have is about the love system. I know that you can build love points by having units wait next to each other, but is that enough to get them to fall in love? I know there are some conversations where you can build love points, but I'm worried I will reach the end of Gen I without my units in love. I could also use some advice on my pairings if they're sub-optimal. Lastly, any other random advice you could give would be very much appreciated.

[spoiler=My Pairings]

Adean x Midayle

Ayra x Dew

Raquesis x Beowolf

Sylvia x Claud

Ferry x Lewyn

Tailto x Azel

Briggid x Holyn

[Robert Stewart]

I just started FE4 for the first time and I'm on Chapter 2. However, some of the mechanics are so different that I think I could use some advice from people who have played the game before. The biggest question I have is about the love system. I know that you can build love points by having units wait next to each other, but is that enough to get them to fall in love?

Yeah you should be fine.

Don't freak out if for some reason some of your characters don't get paired, though. It's not like you can't beat the second generation without pairings.

[Flee Fleet!]

Considering that if you really want the Sylvia x Claud pairing, be sure to prevent Sylvia to fall in love with Lewyn and Alec, as well as any conversation with them that will result in gaining love points with them.

Also, you can use the jealousy system to increase love points between characters, but be careful to not accidentally get the wrong pairing.

there are also some secrets you can initiate with certain characters or by saving some characters, if you know what I mean, but that's ultimately your choice.

Be sure to save villages to gain money, especially with your main healers like Adean, since each character has their own money in this game rather than all of them sharing it.Plus, this game doesn't have trading, with the Pawn shop fulfilling that role, with money.

If you wanna know your pairings are gong well, go to the fortune teller with each character, mainly the women, to find out who's their love interest.

that's it about advice from me

And yeah you pretty much will be fine, so don't worry.

[Soledge]

Can I ask a question regarding levelling and experience.

To my knowledge the level cap is 30.

Does that mean Sigurd and Quan have 30 levels and Finn has 60?

Gen2 receive bonuses for parents at max level.

How many units should I use for optimal experience distribution in order to reach level 30?

Edited August 7, 2016 by Soledge

[Enaluxeme]

Everyone has 30 levels, as they ton't reset on promotion.

You can use every unit and still have enough exp to reach levels between 26 and 30 with everyone, especially if you complete the arenas of every chapter.

To my knowledge, children don't get bonuses if their parents reached level 30, but they do get bonuses to starting stats from their parents's stats

[AzimuthFE]

Can I ask a question regarding levelling and experience.

To my knowledge the level cap is 30.

Does that mean Sigurd and Quan have 30 levels and Finn has 60?

Gen2 receive bonuses for parents at max level.

How many units should I use for optimal experience distribution in order to reach level 30?

No. this is one of the biggest differences regarding promotion. When a unit promotes in this game the level does not reset. If a unit promotes at level 23 they will still be level 23 promoted. Another thing to consider is that the stat caps for a promoted unit is the unpromoted stat cap plus the amount they get on promotion. Put simply, if a stat is capped before promotion it will be capped immediately after, so you aren't losing out if a unit gains levels after lv. 20 without promoting.

[_Erai]

Keeping units adjacent to each other is enough to make them fall in love in less than 100 turns assuming they start with 0 love points and have no conversations to speed up things.

Your pairings are fine, I personally like killing/leaving Sylvia unpaired because the substitutes are better IMO. Keep in mind Sylvia tends to fall in love with Lewyn/Levin easily so you may have to kill her, but this can be prevented by simply keeping Lewyn away from Sylvia.

[Flee Fleet!]

Keeping units adjacent to each other is enough to make them fall in love in less than 100 turns assuming they start with 0 love points and have no conversations to speed up things.

Your pairings are fine, I personally like killing/leaving Sylvia unpaired because the substitutes are better IMO. Keep in mind Sylvia tends to fall in love with Lewyn/Levin easily so you may have to kill her, but this can be prevented by simply keeping Lewyn away from Sylvia.

Or just kill Sylvia off and later revive her using the Valkyrie staff when Lewyn has finally paired up with his intended lover.Not only can you play the game smoothly without any Sylvia and Lewyn pairing problems but you get to use the Valkyrie staff, an item that's basically useless(that is, if you just reset your game if someone dies every time.)Claude will get some of that huge exp too, even tho it's not really needed.

[arkel]

Thanks for your help, everyone. I'm currently on the part of chapter 3 where Eldigan charges at you. I'm trying to get Raquesis close to him, but one of my units keeps dying. Any suggestions?

[salinea]

Thanks for your help, everyone. I'm currently on the part of chapter 3 where Eldigan charges at you. I'm trying to get Raquesis close to him, but one of my units keeps dying. Any suggestions?

It's better to have Raquesis promoted before that... although that may be too late by now.

[arkel]

It's better to have Raquesis promoted before that... although that may be too late by now.

Yeah, currently the only units I've been able to promote are Lex and Jamke. No worries, though, I just got it to work. I guess that leads into my next question, how do I do a better job of distributing experience? I deploy every unit except Alec, Noish, Arden, and Midir.

[salinea]

Yeah, currently the only units I've been able to promote are Lex and Jamke. No worries, though, I just got it to work. I guess that leads into my next question, how do I do a better job of distributing experience? I deploy every unit except Alec, Noish, Arden, and Midir.

Besides swapping the Paragon ring around for the arena as soon as your characters can afford it, abusing staff for experience, and completing arena for as many characters as possible (with a lot of save state abuse if necessary) I don't have any real tips of experience distribution. With Raquesis I just know ahead of time to give her a lot before she needs to talk to her brother (and likewise, Finn, Ethlyn and Quan need lots of xp before chap 4 -- although since you're not breeding Finn he probably doesn't need that much).

[_Erai]

If you're not doing a ranked run/LTC you can boss abuse Chagall/Shagaar in the Silvail castle, you'll need a lot of patience though.

Since you are pairing Midayle with Adean, try to deploy him, he will get a Brave Bow in CH4 if they are already paired.

I'd personally promote Finn, he is very useful at the start of CH7.

[arkel]

Ok, I'll be sure to grab the Brave Bow in chapter 4. Does Finn "inherit" his inventory from gen 1 when he appears in gen 2?

[_Erai]

Ok, I'll be sure to grab the Brave Bow in chapter 4. Does Finn "inherit" his inventory from gen 1 when he appears in gen 2?

He keeps his items if he wasn't paired in gen 1, in case he was paired he will start with an Iron Lance.

[Flee Fleet!]

I think you should use Midir rather than keeping him in the castle, if you want to. He's not as great as Jamke as far as their archery goes, but Midir has a horse so he should turn out useful in case of alerts or when you get to ch4.

Also, for distributing experience, you should do some boss abuse and maybe heal abuse in the castle to promote your healers(which is also the more easy way to promote Ethlyn and Raquesis, rather than boss abusing)

[arkel]

heal abuse in the castle

I figured I could heal abuse out on the map, but how do you do it in the castle?

[Enaluxeme]

I find it easy to get everyone to a respectable level just by trading the paragon/elite band and never using staff user to fight outside the arena, so I don't really have tips on experience distribution.

However, I find that Jamka is much better than Midir only thanks to the killer bow: give it to Midir and he becomes very good.

[Flee Fleet!]

I figured I could heal abuse out on the map, but how do you do it in the castle?

Just get everyone or maybe three to four ppl in the home castle to fight in the arena, until they can't beat against one of the opponents and are stuck with them(if they complete the arena then it's useless to heal abuse with them). Considering you don't stop till your player is defeated in the arena, leaving them with only one hp, get your healers in the home castle to heal abuse them.

If you have Sylvia, it's a good idea to get her to the home castle to dance for your healers(she dances for everyone who's used they're turn in the home castle), so your healers can heal again, making your job more quick.

[Rend Keaven]

Hey I just started my first playthrough last week of FE4 and I'm currently on Chapter 3 arena grinding. I do have a few questions to:

Are their any substitute units in Gen 2 worth getting?

How do you make units become lovers, is there a conversation you have to activate? I'm aware it has something to do with love points but is there away to figure how many love points both units have and what's a good way to gain love points?

Which pairing should be avoided at all costs?

Any tips for leveling up dew without the paragon ring?

Speaking of paragon ring, which unit is best suited with the ring: Fury, Levin, Ayra or Azel?

Should I sell the pursuit ring that Arden got?

Can someone give me a list of good weapons that children can inherit?

Cheers in advance.

[Darrman]

1: Some people advocate that the player gets Sylvia's subs, as there are unique items only obtainable by the subs, and the dancer has Charisma, which means ten more hit/avoid. I've never tried them myself, though.

2: Just keep units next to each other and they'll gain five extra love points a turn, which is 1% of the required 500 points. increasing the speed of the love growth. You can get hints at the fortune teller at a castle: 40% means "feelings for", 60% equals "likes", 80% equals "loves", and they'll tie the knot at 100%. Some couples have 20% love boosts, speeding up the process.

3: Do you want to waste Holsety? No? Don't pair Levin with Sylvia, or anyone not named Fury/Tiltyu, for that matter.

4: I never got him to promotion myself, but he'd do well against any bandits. Chapter 3's final segment is full of pirates, which are easy pickings for Dew. Don't forget the Wind Sword while you're at it.

5: Azel's the worst of the bunch IMO, so give it to him. Hopefully he'll actually clear those arenas... If anyone can afford Paragon, let them buy it during the arena grind. Extra levels never hurt.

6: When someone who can use it can afford it. Levin's great with it.

7: It's not a weapon, but many people recommend having Sigurd pass down Paragon to Celice to get him up to speed faster. (Lots of those people also recommend soloing the first chapter of Gen 2 with Celice, but we're not LTCing, everyone else needs exp too...) Anyone who can use the Brave Sword appreciates the Brave Sword. It nullifies Adept, mind you, so take that into account. And don't forget to pass Holsety down! It's one of the best weapons in the game, and it's very useful to have. I also recommend having Celice keep Sigurd's silver sword: the thing should have critical on it by now.

(Also, do you have any pairings planned or are you just winging it?)

[Rend Keaven]

1: Some people advocate that the player gets Sylvia's subs, as there are unique items only obtainable by the subs, and the dancer has Charisma, which means ten more hit/avoid. I've never tried them myself, though.

2: Just keep units next to each other and they'll gain five extra love points a turn, which is 1% of the required 500 points. increasing the speed of the love growth. You can get hints at the fortune teller at a castle: 40% means "feelings for", 60% equals "likes", 80% equals "loves", and they'll tie the knot at 100%. Some couples have 20% love boosts, speeding up the process.

3: Do you want to waste Holsety? No? Don't pair Levin with Sylvia, or anyone not named Fury/Tiltyu, for that matter.

4: I never got him to promotion myself, but he'd do well against any bandits. Chapter 3's final segment is full of pirates, which are easy pickings for Dew. Don't forget the Wind Sword while you're at it.

5: Azel's the worst of the bunch IMO, so give it to him. Hopefully he'll actually clear those arenas... If anyone can afford Paragon, let them buy it during the arena grind. Extra levels never hurt.

6: When someone who can use it can afford it. Levin's great with it.

7: It's not a weapon, but many people recommend having Sigurd pass down Paragon to Celice to get him up to speed faster. (Lots of those people also recommend soloing the first chapter of Gen 2 with Celice, but we're not LTCing, everyone else needs exp too...) Anyone who can use the Brave Sword appreciates the Brave Sword. It nullifies Adept, mind you, so take that into account. And don't forget to pass Holsety down! It's one of the best weapons in the game, and it's very useful to have. I also recommend having Celice keep Sigurd's silver sword: the thing should have critical on it by now.

(Also, do you have any pairings planned or are you just winging it?)

Thanks a bunch! I'll try and pair Levin with Fury. Unfortunately Azel cannot afford the Paragon and he has trouble fighting the myrmidons in the Arena. I'll try and make him visit some villages, then once Fury reaches a high level, warp her and Azel back to the castle, sell the ring and if Azel can afford the paragonand maybe the speed ring if he isn't RNG screwed I'll try work with him.

Yeah, I'm about 30% winging it to be honest, The only pairings I'm considering are Levin X Fury and Azel X Aideen. The only reason I asked about pairing is because that according to a you tuber I follow, he mentions that unlike Awakening where it's hard to mess up a child units stats, I can happen much easily in FE4. So I wanted to make sure my run of FE4 is a good one, which so far it is despite missing out on the Knight and Bargain Ring in chapter 2.

One more thing actually, I heard people usually stop mid way in gen 2, then play Thracia 776, then come back to FE4 again. Is it worth doing that in terms of getting to know the story more or best wait till I beat the FE4 first?

[Enaluxeme]

Azel x Aideen is a bad pairing: Aideen's son is a physical unit, he wants a physical father. Midir, Jamka and Fin are probably the best, followed by anyone else.

[Darrman]

Mind you, if you get it before Chapter 4, you can get an early Rescue staff, and Rescue is really good here, especially on a Master Knight. I actually did the pairing for the early rescue, and well, despite her son's pitiful strength, the power of good weapons made him salvageable. Shame about all that useless magic... Mind you, he was pretty useless until he actually got those good weapons. On the other mind, her daughter makes good use of all that magic. It's your choice really. If you opt for an archer, he'll get a brave bow instead of the rescue.

[sirmola]

One more thing actually, I heard people usually stop mid way in gen 2, then play Thracia 776, then come back to FE4 again. Is it worth doing that in terms of getting to know the story more or best wait till I beat the FE4 first?

Some people do that because that is the chronological order they happen in. (although FE5 actualy overlaps with fe4 chapters 6-8, with events in chapters 7 and 8 unfolding in both games), But they are intended to be played fe4 first, and fe5 latter. Playing them one fe4 gen at a time is far from the usual practice, though. I also would not recommend it.

THe mechanics and style of story telling are very different, with fe5 being an extremely zoomed in view of a story the player is supposed to know already in broad strokes. As an analogy, imagine that you wanted to learn about the battle of verdun in world war one, which you don't know very much about. YOu could either A. read a general history until right before the part on Verdun, read a specific book on Verdun, and then read the rest of the general history, including the chapter on Verdun. or B. read the entire general history, and then the specific book. These are equivalent to the 2 choices above.

Edited August 13, 2016 by sirmola